Preparing for an examination is one of the most demanding things for students. With it comes lots of stress, sleepless night, and anxiety to achieve success. However, to ace the board examination, you must have the best study plan for the board exam.
What You Should Know About Taking Board Exams?
What You Should Know About Taking Board Exams?In every student’s academic life, board examination plays a vital role. And this is because this examination dictates their career prospect. Understanding studying for boards meaning will go a long way in guiding you to prepare for this life-changing examination.
Board exams are the public examinations written at the end of students’ 10th-grade education and at the end of 12th-grade education. At this stage, the achievable scores in the examination play a crucial role in getting admitted into the universities.
Board examinations are also written to obtain a professional course or to acquire training programs in various fields. For instance, in the medical field, you can sit for a board examination to obtain board certification that will show your mastery of advanced knowledge and skills as a physician.
Also, as a medical student, at the end of the second year, all medical students will take a board exam to determine medical competency. The outcome of this medical board examination is used to issue a license to practice medicine. For the certification as a medical physician, your knowledge will be tested in written, practical, and simulator-based tests. The professional board examination will attest to your competence in the field.
Board examination is not what you can afford to fail. However, before you start burning midnight candles and putting yourself under examination tensions, there are some things you should know about taking board exams.
Do not see the examination as a medium to score marks.
The thought of scoring high in board examinations will put you under duress that may affect your performance. Although scoring good marks goes a long way in board examinations, it shouldn’t be a yardstick for preparation. You should see it as a way of assessing what you have studied. This way, you will be able to prepare adequately without anxiety.
Deal with the board examination from a positive perspective.
It is undeniable that preparing for the exam and writing it is challenging due to pressure and remarks from parents, teachers, superiors, and others. However, you can have a great learning experience from the examination when you handle it positively without giving heed to any form of pressure or negative remarks.
Have working exam strategies.
Having examination strategies will help you in taking the board examination. These strategies can take different forms. It can highlight important passages or points in the textbook or practice question papers. You can jot down vital points and skim through them during study time. During the exam, you can answer questions that you know best. In pursuing and using the strategies that work well for you, the board examination will become less stressful and difficult.
How Many Hours a Day on Average Should You Study for Boards?
One of the questions that students seek answers to is the number of hours, on average, they should dedicate to studying each day. The number of hours to use daily is not the most important thing. Managing the time that will result in effective performance is more important. It is of general conception that studying 6-8 hours on average goes a long way in achieving 90+ marks when preparing for board examinations.
Studying for long hours per day is not what gives the best result but the quality and the value you get from it. If you study for the whole day and your study is ineffective, it is equivalent to not studying.
Studying for 4 – 8 hours daily with effective learning techniques will give better results than long hours. In doing this, break your syllabus down into smaller quantities to study per day without rushing over it. A well-planned timetable will also equip you with effective study hours. In your timetable, there should be a specific time for study.
In line with the hour to study, set a daily target on what to achieve. This will make your preparation to be efficient. In doing this, divide your study syllabus into core and theoretical. Your core should center on formulas, principles, and practicals, while theoretical will be based on examples and concepts to master. Question papers that will give hints on how questions are set should be referred to.
After studying and practicing sample questions, revise what you have recently learned for the day. The best time to review for the board exam is within 24 hours of studying each day. This can be done in the evening and early in the morning of the next day. This will help you to memorize and recall what you have studied.
How to Study for Boards and Ace the Exam: 7 Effective Tips
Studying for the board exam to have a 90+ mark should not follow the same study routine for other examinations because this is an examination that has a lot to do with your life career and need not be taken with levity. Therefore, how to study for the boards and ace the examination has some tips that must be religiously followed.
Discover the learning style that suits you
Learning involves different styles and what works for one individual might not be suitable for your use. You need to know the mode of learning that helps you assimilate faster, whether visual, auditory, or reading text. If you are a visual learner, try learning through video. If you are an auditory learner, record lectures and play them during study time. And if your learning style is reading text, you must get relevant materials in line with the board exam you are sitting for. You need to discover this early.
Have a schedule
To sit for a board exam; you must give yourself ample time to prepare adequately. For this, create a visible study schedule and be consistent with it. In line with the schedule, have a study structure. Work with the exam syllabus and sample questions.
Prioritize the syllabus’s important topics
Start your study by prioritizing important topics in the board exams. This is to make sure that you have a better understanding of the subject. Some topics or sub-topics are often set and have more marks than others. Being versed in these topics or sub-topics can help you have more scores. Sections where questions are often set or that carry higher marks should be covered thoroughly before moving to other sections that you have a good understanding of or require less study time.
Join a study group
One of the useful ways how to top the board exam tips is joining a study group of like-minds. And by like minds, we mean people sitting for the same examination. For instance, if you are sitting for a medical board examination, you shouldn’t be in the study group of those who want to sit for the civil engineering board examination. Being in a study group is a great way to help you learn those aspects that seem difficult for you to assimilate while doing personal study. You will also be able to complement each other by teaching aspects you understand well while learning from others.
Engage in Periodic Revision
Make it part of your study routine to revise your study material at a specified time. Doing this will help you to retain what you have learned and make it fresh in your mind. To do this, always make short notes of cogent points while studying that you can revisit for revision.
Evaluate yourself
Once you have covered the board exam syllabus, test your knowledge to know how prepared you are for the examination. In doing this, navigate through previous years’ questions, and set the time for writing the exam yourself. This way, you will be able to evaluate your knowledge so far and identify areas that need improvement and topics that require more focus.
Have sufficient Sleep
A day preceding your examination should not be for rigorous reading; ensure that you have enough time to sleep a day before the examination. Do not attempt reading overnight into the examination. Getting sufficient sleep is essential for your brain to process and recollect everything you have read for the board examination. A minimum of 7 hours of sound sleep before the examination will make your body system calm without fatigue.
Do’s and Don’ts When Reviewing for Boards
Do’s
Preparing for examination demands that you put some things into action that will see to your success. Here are some of the do’s attached to review for the board exam.
- During classes, lectures, study time, or group discussions, always makes note well written in your words. This will help in understanding some concepts and assimilating them faster.
- Have several practice sessions and tests while reviewing for the board exam. This will help you hone your writing speed and be able to work with the allocated time for the papers when writing the board exam.
- Ensure you take mock exams because they will help you sit up for them. Mock examinations are structured more like the actual exam mimicking past questions. With it, you will know the format of the exam and the more important topics.
- While reviewing for the exam, engage in exercise and relax often. Physical exercise will help your body and mind stay fit and in perfect shape. Don’t spend the whole time studying; relax, sleep early, and have a break between your study hours.
Don’tsÂ
As you have mastered what you should do when reviewing for boards, you need to know things to avoid that can negatively affect your performance.
- Do not befriend procrastination, leaving what you should do early for the last minute. Doing this will put you on edge and in duress. All the workload should be completed two months or a month before the examination. This time will be the best time to review the boards and know what you should work more on.
- Do not skip diagrams and see them as unimportant. Those diagrams are there for a reason; ensure you practice and master them.
- Do not study for long hours without break intervals. Take frequent breaks while studying to help your brain retain all you read.
- Do not undermine the importance of revision. Before going for your exam, make sure to revise your syllabus and the notes you have made to memorize some concepts.
Wrapping Things Up: How to Study for the Boards?
How to study for the boards is something that requires determination and consistency to ace the exam. While studying, do not have in mind that you will cram the topics in the syllabus, as this doesn’t work in most cases. Leaving all you should do early and engaging in cramming can put stress on you, and you might end up forgetting all that you have crammed.
Know that your entire career depends on the board exams; therefore, study and prepare adequately, following the style of study that works perfectly for your learning. The dos and don’ts should be adhered to strictly to get the best from the exam in a sitting.
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